Outlook for 2010

Hope everyone has a happy and healthy 2010!

Sewing Stats for 2009... aren't updated. I have about 115 projects that I started, too many current projects in progress.... I did quite well on NOT PURCHASING fabric, but still came home with lots. My Mom, my MIL and a friend all passed on fabric to me.... I need to sort it to figure out what to keep. I am using some of it for muslins! At some point I might total this up... but tomorrow I am starting from scratch in my journal and will add as I go (might add a spreadsheet to help track as it will add for me)!

Evaluating my 2009 Goals

* Sew mostly from Stash
Mostly true... Most of the stuff I purchased this year has been used, or is sitting together with the 3 quilts I want to make.

* Sew for me
I did sew for me, but then started loosing weight faster than I could sew...

* Start Christmas sewing before Nov 1st
Kinda! But they weren't finished... the Kilt Making course took me off track.

I sewed for everyone in my family this year including my husband... I used my embroidery machine to turn stash fabric into gifts for friends (and the kids friends).... I purchased fabric with a purpose... I wish I'd had more time to sew but spent much more time on getting healthy and exercising that I didn't have much time left for sewing. 2009 was for my health, now that I'm healthier, I'm going to try and fit my crafts and sewing back into my routine.





2010 Goals

• Sew from stash, with meaningful purchases


• Sew for me


• Sew 3 quilts


• Finish the works in progress

And in order to complete this, I will need to clean my sewing room :) and hopefully keep it clean

An old dress... worn again....

I first made this dress in 2003 for my older daughter to wear at 1yo... sorry I can't find a picture of it being worn...and it was by 2 different kids




And my youngest wore it when she was 1yo too! And she wore it again this year at 4!!! With a petticoat and matching leggings... (the matching dress her sister has from when she was 1 is still way too big for her)

So I made a petticoat & leggings. For the petticoat, no pattern was used, just a width of satin backed crepe leftover from my wedding dress - crepe side out, with pre-gathered eyelet attached at the hem, stitch up the back seam and add elastic at the waist. The leggings used an Ottobre pattern I'd previously traced for her from 1/08 (need to use a different pattern next time as these are a little tight!)






And I recreated a dress for me... but need to either take it in again or start over. I took it in in November and really should have taken it in again before wearing it to the Christmas party a couple of weeks ago.

More birthday invites... more bags....

My youngest had two more birthday parties right before Christmas....

From Santa and other Christmas gifts.

I didn't get much sewing related but my kids did....


Santa brought the kids a new Janome QDC4030...

The girls got packages of needle felting materials and sewing boxes...

I got a few sewing notions from Santa, but for the most part I got new clothes. I have lost 95lbs in the past year and really can't keep up with the sewing and am down to only a couple of decent outfits so Santa, my mom and grandma all bought me clothes.

Christmas Gift

My son has been working hard for the past 16months learning how to play the chanter with the goal of playing the bagpipes. In mid December he passed his test and in January he starts learning to play the bagpipes. For Christmas he got his bagpipes! And he is so excited.

So far he is playing with the drones corked. It makes them nice and quiet... and uses less air which is easier on him. He has been practising hard and took them to Gramma's and Grampa's houses on Christmas Day to play them for everyone there...




To make this sewing related.... he's wearing his new Christmas PJs I made him out of the end of the white snowman print I had and red/black knit.

OK its been a while....

First some sewing updates... I haven't been sewing much, but did get Christmas PJs for my older two ready for their Christmas Concert... and a matching pair for my youngest.
My sons PJs use a Stretch & Sew pattern I've used before for the pants, and the Ottobre pattern we made his back to school outfit in. The girls nighties are Ottobre too. I lengthened the yoke so more of the snowman print can be seen. I also made leggings from the Ottobre Lokki pattern. (my oldest had to wear them for the Christmas concert, so I was concerned both about warmth and modesty....)


For various kids, we did cookies in a jar - we made 12 jars full of cookies. So for my niece, we gave her a platter, cookie cutters, a cookie jar, cookie mix and a homemade apron.




The kids painted 18 scarfs this year, for various relatives. Forgot to get a photo of all of them before we gave them out.




The kids also made a few pet toys for the cats or dogs in the family. These were done mainly by the kids, with some help from mom teaching them the stitches, etc.... The idea came from the Owl magazine and use old gloves.

Another party, another bag...

So these are getting quite simple to make - but it would be easier if I wrote down the sizes I used for each one. I kinda make them up as I go along, depending on what fits the fabric I'm working with. These fabrics are from my stash and have been cut into before... The fuchsia twill is now all gone! YEAH!!!

Sewing for me

OD 03/04 Top for me
Originally uploaded by leahholland

Since this fall I am generally cold, I needed a few cozy sweaters... This on is the tshirt pattern from 03/04 (#39) that had a button placket. I didn't want buttons so I replaced it with a zipper.

It is a little snug across the chest, so I've done a FBA on the next one I have planned.

Halloween

I did some Halloween sewing this year... but not much. My older daughter wanted to wear the witch costume I made her 2 years ago, and my 3yo daughter wanted to wear the princess costume I made last year. I made them both a pair of pink sequin leggings.

My son wanted to be a bat... so taking a RTW black tshirt and attached wings and made him a balaclava style hat, that we pinned ears to.

Where has time gone...

I have been sewing, some... but between my kilt making course and sick kids I haven't been posting. My kilt making course is now over, but I still need to finish the kilt. Probably have another 5-7hours of stitching.


My husband asked for some cycling shorts. I first thought I could modify one of the Jalie mens underwear patterns, but after studying them I decided to pick up KwikSew 2881. They have no seam at the inseam, which was the area he didn't want a seam. The red ones are from some swim lycra that I had in the house to check for fit. The blue ones are from some chicosante interlock (quick dry, lycra blend) that I was planning on making myself a top from... so instead I picked up some purple supplex and black chicosante for myself when I bought the pattern (the store has patterns for 50% if you buy the fabric from them).





Some gifts for birthday parties....






In August I won a contest at from Regina over at . It is a great match to my living room.

Kilt progress - week 2 homework

I now have 18 pleats done. Have approximately 10 more to go... Should finish those tomorrow night. I will also post a photo tomorrow

Class Week #2

Today was my second class for making the kilt. We marked the front of the kilt, and started pleating and basting the bottom of the pleats together. I have 6 pleats completed... have approximately 23 to complete before next class. At approximately 3-4 pleats an hour... I have many hours of homework!

Kilt progress...

Hem is done! Yes the hem is done, and I still have hours of work to do - the hem was the first thing done. Now to learn about the pleating.

Kilt Making

A local kilt maker decided to teach a course in kilt making before she retired... so I signed up and tonight the course started. It was nerve racking to cut into this expensive fabric (at $70/m!)...

Todays lesson including looking for flaws (in the weaving) to identify the WRONG side of the fabric. Side with the most flaws is the wrong side. Then we measured where we would cut, and cut the fabric into 3 sections. After cutting, we stitched (first hand basted, then machine sewn) the two 3m long pieces together being sure to match the sett. then we pinned up the hem. NOW to hem... all 6m by hand! Yes we are hemming first...

The last course that I took, that I was scared of was a bra making course. And I can even draw comparisons between the two course. You don't have anything to try on until its basically finished and there are both expensive fabrics and lots of work before you get to a finished product. (But a bra is MUCH cheaper!)

More to come next week... or an update as I complain about hand stitching an invisible hem.

top1

top1
Originally uploaded by leahholland

OD 2/09 #1 I added a few slight gathers at CF to take up the extra fabric that was blousing out.

This is a size 44 (no mods), I should have made the hips slightly larger as the tank has a tenancy to ride up as its snug over the hips.

top2

top2
Originally uploaded by leahholland

OD 2/03 #45 size 46 (increased bust dart and lengthened

I've been wanting to make this pattern since I got it. This is made from some poly woven fabric that doesn't have great drape. The pleats are stitched down at the CF or they poof out. As I always seem to have extra fabric above the bust in the underarm area, I rotated the extra fabric into the side seam dart (used lining as guide - so the lining has two darts sewn )

This top really needs to be ironed and I need a better bra to make it work. And sorry for the grainy photo - it really needs natural light...

I have been sewing

Yes I have been sewing... but I really haven't spent much time getting my photos ready for online... so I will be posting a few of my summer projects over the next few days....


Details on my son's clothes....




Extra items for the girls




A bag and bookmark for a friend who looked after the kids this summer




Slippers
Slippers for preschool... Made last night for preschool this morning....


Quilt Progress

Back to school sewing has delayed my quilting... but I do have one quilt ready to sew all the 12.5" squares together...

Back to school

bts2
Originally uploaded by leahholland

The dress is the Kerry top, lengthened over 6" and made without the contrasting band

Leggings are the licorice ones in size 128 and they fit her quite well - they are straight at the bottom as I didn't sew the pintucks.

She also got matching headbands, a camisole and shorts from the same fabric (as well as teddy getting some clothes)

Back to school

bts1
Originally uploaded by leahholland

Great Raglan tshirt from 2/03#40. It fits great and was fun with the fabric paint and contrasting topstitching. I will try and get a better picture of that later.

The shorts/pants are a merge of 04/08 #24 for the pants, waist and side seam pockets. The patch pocket is from 01/09 #27

Ready for school

bts3
Originally uploaded by leahholland

New outfit from mom... Also has matching shorts but too cold to wear it.

quilt-along4

Quilting

quilt-along4
Originally uploaded by leahholland

Another 10 blocks completed... Need to find the rest of my fabric to make more. Total Completed 32

My daughters first QUILT!

A doll's quilt... the smile says it all... Alex (age 6) did all the sewing (except binding), my son did the embroidery for the quilting on the embroidery machine, and I cut fabric and pressed...

The pattern recommended using a fusible grid to place the squares on and then stitching everything together. This was a stash project that didn't include any fusible stash, so this was done by piecing the squares...





Closeups of the embroidery

Back home and sewing....

Last weekend I spent time with my brother before heading off to help my dad & his wife, my uncle and my aunt & her husband clean up my grandmother's house. I was given the task of going through my grandmother's sewing stuff. I threw out many partly completed sewing projects and recycled some patterns and magazines. I did send some completed but not hemmed items to charity donation along with some Threads magazines and some assorted unused patterns and notions. Unfortunately due to the remote location of the house, and time frame for emptying the house, more of the magazines could not be given to others who sew.

These tags were my great grandmother's - I have her Elna sewing machine from the 1970s (although its not working).... I did keep some patterns, fabric, and notions for myself and might get one of the Husqvarna sewing machines. My aunt currently has the older one and is deciding which machine she wants to keep. I left most of the fabrics, sorted in drawers or buckets so my aunt could decide what to do with them. I also left my aunt with an assortment of patterns, notions and other supplies as well as the knitting machine.



Quilting


Since I got home I've had a chance to get back into sewing again. I did complete some more squares for the Quilt Along.



Sewing for Me
I also found an OOP Burda 6157 pattern for panties, slips, teddies, camisole and tap pants at my grandmothers and decided to try it out with fabric & lace I brought home with me. I'm guessing the beige is a nylon-lycra and the lace is a 6" wide stretch lace. Before I started working with the lace it felt fine - not too aged, but as I worked along it seemed very rubbery. I may cut out the lace after a washing or two... I'm not sure its going to work.




Pattern Description:
Slip, Teddy, Camisole, Shorts and Panties

Pattern Sizing:
European Sizes 34 - 48

Older Burda pattern without seam allowances - remember to add them.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes. I made view D - and it looks the similar to the drawing but I'm not sure whether I should have used stretch lace (I did) or regular lace....

Were the instructions easy to follow?
They were easy to follow, but brief and missing some information. I didn't follow their elastic application method - but applied in two steps. I'm glad I've made panties before because there was no recommendations about elastic lengths - more below...

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I disliked the brief list of notions required and fabric suggestions. I'm guessing the panties were to be made in the silky knits listed on the instructions as I'm not sure they'd fit properly in a woven. And requirements for the lace was listed at "12cm (4 1/2") laced edging or band: 0.6m (3/4yd)" From this I'd guess they were using regular lace not stretch lace - I used stretch lace and they are a little large in the front, and the seams pull.

I also disliked that the elastic lengthens for the legs and waist were not included. The leg elastic is only applied to the front/crotch section and back not to the lace/side front piece. I measured the pattern pieces and subtracted 2" for the back of the panties. Because of the stretch lace, the side seams pull to the back when wearing. For the waist - I truly guessed on a measurement... I think I chose well, although may be able to make it slightly shorter next time.

I like the construction order - went together quickly.

Fabric Used:
Beige Nylon - Lycra and stretch lace
(ignore the grey crotch lining piece as I couldn't find any other light colours and these were just a muslin)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
Used stretch-lace because I figured that was what was needed... but think regular lace would be better as it might fit properly.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes I will make these again. The front-side piece will need to be made shorter or with regular lace for a better fit. I might try both.

I would probably make the crotch lining the same size as the front piece instead of seaming it.

Conclusion:
The other items look to be in wovens (camisole, tap pants, teddy and slip) and I may make them at some point.

The panties are a great start and are drafted quite well even if the notions/fabrics listed on the pattern are hard to understand.

Cleaning a sewing room

Tomorrow I will be cleaning my grandmother's sewing stuff.... I wonder what I will find...

Ottobre 02/08 #1 Pintuck top

od020801
Originally uploaded by leahholland

This is a great summer top. Pintucks at CF are a nice detail, although hidden with this print...

The fabric is a drapey poly-lycra knit - I normally wouldn't choose a poly knit but was looking for a fabric with a little bit of red to match my capris...

Alterations - shortened above the bust-point; shortened at the waist (I didn't want it quite as long) and went out two sizes for the hips (as my hips are still 2 sizes larger than my bust)


Project Status
* OD 2/08 #20 Skirt - Done
* Shorts for my son - Done
* Quilts - 1 Completed!
* Mending - Jeans completed

Works in Progress

• KS3315 Jeans Modifications
  
• OD 02/03 #45 - Top for me
  
• Purse for my mom
• Seat cover for Mom's rocking chair

Quilts

• One-a-Day 9 Patch (started July 21) - 14 Completed
• Roger's Quilt - Boat & Anchor Blocks started
• Kaitlyn's Quilt - 31/48 Squares completed
• Alexandra's Quilt - not Started
  

Finishing up more projects!

Shorts
These have been cut out for nearly two months and are finally finished. They are loosely based on Ottobre 3/09 Bert shorts, but added width and removed the attached waistband - the elastic is just sewn onto the top edge.





A baby gift


This blanket was made using up various flannelette and fleece fabrics and using a quilt as you go technique with the serger, and then bound.